Neil Firbank

Neil draws on his lived experience of heroin and crack cocaine use and the long, complex recovery journey that followed to champion community-led, stigma-free approaches to recovery. Since 2002, he has worked across treatment, commissioning and clinical services, always advocating for meaningful involvement and peer-led support.

His early frustration with the lack of genuine peer connection led him to volunteer as a service user representative and establish a peer support group during his own treatment. These experiences shaped his belief that recovery thrives in community, not isolation. Neil went on to coordinate lived‑experience involvement across Doncaster, develop group programmes in clinical settings, and build strong peer‑mentor pathways rooted in trust, hope and inclusion.

Neil remains committed to amplifying the voices of people with lived experience and creating spaces where every recovery journey is recognised, valued and celebrated.